Almost on the model of Israeli expansionist polices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Somaliland has been no less active in trying to create facts on the ground in the areas it occupied in the region of Sool. It has made it quite clear to the defenceless people that any manifestations of support for Puntland or Somalia will be at their own peril. Immediate imprisonment and often banishment to the infamous Mandera prison is the instant justice that the occupying clan militia meets out to any one who dares to upset their apple cart. Having realised that Puntland under former Cadde Muse and former vice president Hassan Dahir Afqudhac were nothing more than toothless bulldogs, more famous for their dithering and lust for money, Somaliland’s macho has become unstoppable posturing as a supper power on the Somali stage. Visiting Lascanod has become a required imperative for any aspiring politician and for Somaliland’s’ defence establishment eager to publicise their military prowess- enough to scare Cadde Muse and company.

The upshot of Somaliland’s occupation of Sool was the decision to organise electoral registration in the SSC regions. Perhaps this was on the advice of Haabsade, a traitor and turncoat par excellence, and perhaps other SSC mercenaries on Somaliland’s pay. Like all quislings, Haabsade told Somaliland what they like to hear: that the area is peaceful, the people pro-Somaliland, and eager to participate in the electoral registration. Such news is music to the ears of Somalilanders. And so, the electoral registration teams were sent with so much fanfare. First stop of course was Lascanod, the capital of Sool. By all accounts, no body turn up, except, employees of the occupiers who were forced to register or else face dire consequences.

To be fair, the Somaliland visiting dignitaries like their Vice President and a registration teams, accompanies by Haabsade, did receive some limited welcome in Haabsade’s home village, Kalabaidh. But that happy memory was wiped out by the unforgettable ignominy that was visited on the Somaliland registration teams in both Widhwidh and Buhodle. In Widhwidh, three of their soldiers accompanying the electoral team were killed by the locals and the rest took to their heels. But the worst humiliation was in Buhodle. The whole town rose up and went on the rampage, destroying all the electoral material, from boxes to electronic equipment to transport, and chased the intruders all the way until they reached Balli Dhiig. Buildings sheltering or showing Somaliland flags were ransacked. Such was Somaliland’s bitter experience that the locals were so jubilant to have seen the back of Somaliland out of their sool. Somalilanders, once chastised, rarely ever come back to where they know the locals are in no mood for nonsense. Such is the reputation and history of Buhodle, the cradle of famous poets, the likes of Ali Dhuux, Ismail Mirreh, Aden Arab and Samatar Baxnaan.

Change has come to Puntland and it is adieu to the charlatans- Cadde Muse and Hassan Dahir Afqudac. And in their place come their successors, President Abdirahman Faroole and his deputy Cabdisamad Ali Shire. Not a man known for mincing his words, Faroole wasted no time in putting Somaliland on notice: “Get out of SSC peacefully or else” he atoned in his composed and statesmanlike voice- so different from Cadde Muse’s incoherent and child-like rambling. The people of Somalia, Froole said, have reverted to their clan solidarity, the driving force behind the establishment of Puntand regional administration in which the SSC regions are an important pillar. The fact that the traditional elders of SSC are in Garawe or in those areas in SSC not occupied by Somaliland, speaks for itself, he added.
 
As usual, Somaliland’s so-called foreign minister, Mohamed Duale, was quick to rise to the occasion and putout what he and secessionist associates are best at: trot out the usual mantra that Somaliland’s boundaries, being inherited from the former colonial power, are recognised by the African Union and the international community. Surely, this is the height of make-belief and fantasy. If these claims are right, you may ask, why aren’t the embassies of these countries in Hargeisa?. But of course, they will proudly point out to the bombed Ethiopian commercial office which they call embassy!! Any one making such ludicrous claims would be diagnosed anywhere else in the world as schizophrenic but not in Somaliland where self delusions are part of the folklore

The fact that Somaliland has ceased to exit as a separate county since July 1960 and hence it’s former boundaries are defunct, and that it is Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity, including of course the NW region, that the international community recognises is something they had been told time and time again but never sinks. It is like speaking to the deaf. Even the British, their beloved former colonial master, have told them in no uncertain terms that they consider Somaliland as part and parcel of Somalia.

Taking leaf from the basis of what constitutes nation states, Somaliland’s combative self-styled foreign minister claimed that in this day and age a nation cannot be built on clan basis.. Now, who is talking, you may ask? After all, clan sentiment was the sole reason behind the secession, where nostalgia for the good old days and a return to former Somaliland in which the clan was the top dog and not subordinate to a greater Somalia was the clarion call of the secessionists. Duale’s explanation of the presence of the SSC traditional leaders in Garowe was simple: they are no longer traditional leaders representing their SSC people. Rather they are bootlickers in Garowe, fending for themselves, he fulminated.

As was to be expected, almost all the SSC traditional leaders, 17 of them, held a press conference on 12 January in response to Duale’s gratuitous insults and unacceptable claims on the SSC regions. Their answer was forthright. In responding to the British conquest in the late 19the Century, the clans reacted in two different ways. Duale’s clan accepted British colonisation whereas the SSC people fought them for 21 years and had never entered into any colonial treaty with the British. Hence, they are not bound by any union with the pro British clan that is separate from the union with Somalia. Those who think that their former departing master had left them the SSC regions as a legacy are dreaming, they stressed. The SSC regions are part of Puntland and Somalia, they added. That is the choice of its people and it not something the secessionists have any say. Simply, it is non-negotiable. When will they ever learn?

Mohsin Mahad
Email: mohsinmahad@yahoo.co.uk

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